THE ACTION BY THE RAILROAD BRIDGE
It was hardly daylight the next morning when Major Lyon sprang from his
camp-bed. The first thing he recalled was the visit to his tent in the
night of Mr. Barkland. He thought it was rather strange that Captain
Titus had not brought his lieutenant, as it now appeared that he was in
reality, as he had been before only in appearance; for he was a ruffian
of the rudest stripe.
Three months before he had attempted to shoot Levi Bedford, the major's
faithful overseer, as he drove past his house; and he had been his
brother's principal supporter in the attacks of the mob upon Riverlawn
and Lyndhall. He was just the desperado for such work as that in which
the commander of the Home Guards had engaged the evening before.
"Sentinel!" called the major to the guard at headquarters.
"Here, Major!" replied the soldier.
"Send for Dexter and Artemas Lyon. Have them report at headquarters
mounted," added the major, as he proceeded to complete his simple
toilet.
The "assembly" was not sounded that morning, lest the noise should be
heard in some other camp; but all the men had been called verbally, and
were getting ready for the business of the day. The troopers assigned to
that duty were watering the horses at a brook which flowed through the
plantation, and others were striking the tents. A number of pickets on
foot had patrolled the roads for a mile from the camp, but there had
been no alarm during the night. Deck and Artie promptly reported at the
major's tent as they had been ordered to do.
"Good-morning, boys," said their father. "Do you know where the railroad
bridge over the creek is?"
"I do," replied Deck.
"I have a message for Captain Truman. You will find his company in two
divisions this morning, one on each side of the bridge, and both of them
are in concealment by this time in the morning. The captain is behind
the hill, just this side of the creek. Do you think you can find him?"
"I know I can," replied Deck.
"You must remember that he is keeping his men out of sight. My message
is for him alone. He is not aware that Captain Titus and his companions
at the mansion were captured last night. Whether the work will be
carried on by his first lieutenant or not, I don't know. This officer is
Buck Lagger; and I know that he will be glad to get the command of the
company, even for a short time. I believe he will begin the destruction
of the bridge early this morning; for, according to Levi Bedford, Buck
believes he is a bigger man and an abler captain than his superior
officer."
"I have no doubt if there is any mischief to be done, Buck will do it as
soon as possible," added Deck.
"But if he fails to do so, tell Captain Truman to move over to the camp
they occupied last night, and to keep his eye on the company. You will
also inform him that there is a company of Texan cavalry in camp about
three miles to the south-east of us, and they will probably be on the
move this morning," continued Major Lyon.
"Texan cavalry!" exclaimed Deck.
"Music somewhere here to-day," added Artie with a smile.
"The first company will be between this enemy and the second company,
and you will tell Captain Truman to give no attention to them. Now go as
soon as possible," added the major; and the boys started on their
mission.
The horses were in excellent condition, and the boys were pleased to
have something to do that brought them out of the ranks for a time. The
section of country which one could take in from the hill on which the
mansion of the planter was located, included the railway and two common
roads. South of the railroad, and extending in the same general
direction, was the road by which the command had marched from Riverlawn.
The camp of the Home Guards was at the south of it, and half a mile from
it; for it appeared to have been a part of the purpose of Captain Titus
to conceal his force. The half-dozen shots which had been fired as the
troopers passed came from a party of strollers, it afterwards appeared;
and Buck Lagger, in charge of the camp, had not discovered the presence
of the cavalry from Riverlawn.
At the point where Cato had been first seen, and who had given the
information in regard to the outrage at the mansion, the road to the
south branched off, or rather crossed the other at right angles. On this
one was the mansion of Mr. Barkland, and about three miles farther south
was the reported camp of the Texans. Deck had had no opportunity to
study the panorama of the region as it might be seen in the daytime from
the hill by the planter's house, for the darkness shut off his view.
The camp of the first company was on the south road, and the boys rode
in the direction of the railroad bridge. The day was breaking in the
east, but it was not light enough to see distinctly the prominent object
in the vicinity. They could make out the hill where they expected to
find Captain Truman, but not the one on the other side of the railroad.
"Hold on, Deck!" said Artie, when they came to the crossing of the
roads. "I hear a noise off towards the west."
"It is the tramp of men's feet; but that is none of our affair," replied
Deck.
"I have no doubt it is the Home Guards," added Artie.
"I know it is; didn't father say they were to come over here to do their
work? We can report to Captain Truman that the enemy are approaching,
and he will be glad to get the information."
Deck started his horse; but they had been directed to move with as
little noise as possible, and they could not hurry. They took the
cross-road, and the hill was on the right, and the railroad bridge on
the left of it. Leaving the road, they struck into the field, and moved
toward the station of the first half of the second company.
"Who comes there?" called a voice from the grove that surrounded the
hill.
"Friends," replied Deck.
"Advance, friends, and give the countersign."
"Riverlawn," answered Deck, giving the word that had been selected the
day before. "We have a message for Captain Truman from Major Lyon. Where
is he?"
"Not far from here," replied Blenks, who was in charge of the picket
line. "I will conduct you to him."
They found the captain seated on his horse, apart from his command,
eating his breakfast from his haversack. The men were all mounted, and
in readiness for immediate service, though they were standing at ease,
some of them taking their morning meal.
"Good-morning, Deck," said Captain Truman, as he recognized his early
visitors. "You left your bunk in good time this morning."
"We are the bearers of orders from Major Lyon," replied Deck, who was in
the habit of doing most of the talking, though Artie had a tongue of his
own; and he repeated all the orders and all the information with which
they had been charged.
"Captain Titus a prisoner!" exclaimed the captain, when he had finished.
"Then it remains to be proved whether or not Lieutenant Buck Lagger will
execute the orders received by Captain Titus."
"We heard them down the road as we came along," said Artie.
"I have no doubt they will be at work within half an hour," added Deck.
"But we must hurry back, for our company will move farther to the south,
I think, judging from the message we brought to you."
"But you can't go now, for you will meet the Home Guards by the time you
get to the south road. The ruffians would be glad to get a couple of
prisoners like you and Artie; for then Buck Lagger could exchange you
both for his captain."
"Such an arrangement would not suit Buck Lagger at all," replied Deck.
"When Levi Bedford brought Buck to the fort at Riverlawn, after he
attempted to kill him on the road, the villain did not speak very
handsomely of his captain, but said he should soon be in command of the
company himself."
"Be that as it may, you ought not to throw yourselves into the midst of
these ruffians," the captain insisted. "If they don't capture you, they
would take great pleasure in abusing you."
"Mounted as we are, I think we could take care of ourselves against the
whole of them," answered Deck.
The soldiers of the squadron had an utter contempt for the fighting
qualities of this company, and Deck and Artie shared it with the
others. But the captain protested so earnestly against their exposing
themselves to a needless peril, that they agreed to wait behind some
bushes near the south road till the company had passed. They would
gladly have learned something more in regard to the plan of the captain;
but he was as reticent as military men usually are, and kept his own
counsel. The messengers rode to the knoll covered with bushes which they
had observed near the road when they entered the field.
"We shall have a chance to see something of this affair," said Deck, as
he stopped his horse at a point where the bushes would conceal them from
those passing in the road.
"Do you suppose the first company will remain where they are for any
length of time?" asked Artie.
"Father didn't say anything about that; but I imagine he will put the
company in a position to meet the Texans."
"There they come!" exclaimed Artie. "They are just turning into the
south road. Buck Lagger looks big enough to be a brigadier-general."
"But they are straggling along as though they were going to a picnic,"
added Deck. "There are some of them half a mile in the rear."
Then the boys observed two wagons drawn by mules, and the stragglers
appeared to be the guard for their protection. Buck Lagger led the
compact portion of his command, who were armed with axes as well as
muskets. The south road ran under the railroad bridge, and the Guard
halted there. The lieutenant lost no time in beginning his work. A
portion of the men went to work at the abutment, trying to remove some
of the stones in the wall, evidently with the intention of blowing up
the end of the structure when the wagons arrived with the powder.
About one-half of the men were sent to the platform of the bridge,
climbing up the embankment a short distance beyond the wall. As soon as
they reached the wooden portion of the bridge, they began to pull up the
planks of the platform, and toss them over into the creek, a work which
would not at all interfere with the usefulness of the structure for the
passage of trains. These men were in so elevated a position that the
boys could distinctly see their operations.
Then they heard the crack of a rifle, and one of the soldiers dropped
from the bridge into the creek. This single effective shot was followed
by a volley; and, though they could not be seen, it was clear that
Lieutenant Gadbury had led his command to the front, and they had opened
fire on the destroyers of the bridge. His men were good marksmen; for
not a few of them were hunters, and they had had abundant practice at
the camp.
"They can't stand much of that sort of thing," said Deck, much excited
by what he saw.
"Not they; they are coming down from the bridge now," added Artie.
"Here come the rest of the company," exclaimed Deck, as Captain Truman,
followed by his fifty men by fours, dashed through the field at full
gallop. "I reckon I don't stay here any longer."
"But the baggage-train of the enemy has not come up yet," suggested
Artie.
"But I want to see what is going on, and we can't see anything in the
road from here, and that is where the fight is going to be," returned
Deck, who was far more excited than his brother. "I suppose Lieutenant
Gadbury is coming down to the bridge from the north, and now Captain
Truman is approaching it from the south. They will have it out there."
Both divisions of the company halted at some distance from the enemy,
and began to pour a murderous fire into them, crushed as they were
between the upper and nether millstones. The plan of Major Lyon had been
carried out to the letter. The Guards returned the fire with all the
energy they could muster; but it was very soon evident that their
weapons were doing little harm to the cavalry.
"This is little better than wholesale murder!" exclaimed Captain Truman;
and he sent the second lieutenant, with half his men, into the field,
with orders to charge the enemy in concert with him.
This charge was made; and the enemy were ridden down by the horsemen,
till they cried out for quarter. Buck Lagger lay dead upon the ground,
with not less than a dozen others, while half the rest of them were
wounded. The victory was complete, and the cavalrymen were only sorry
they had not met a foe worthy of their steel. Eight of them were
wounded, two of them severely.